From the highway, Ed Martin’s house is just a bump in a cornfield east of the Fort Lyon prison. It’s not until an apron-clad Martin opens the door of his workshop — a 1920s-era ranch house his aunt ...

Sheets of ostrich, and kangaroo are stacked in the back of his shop. Such exotic materials run prices into the thousands.Mass-produced boots are much less expensive, but every boot Bartels makes is ...

Buster's Boot Company owner Craig Bartels trims a boot seam with a sharp knife. It's a delicate task. If he cuts the stitching, he'll have to start the whole process over.

NEAR AKELEY, Minn. – Most boots are manufactured by the thousands, and shipped from China or other countries. But one man in northern Minnesota is still doing it the old way. Craig Bartels owns and ...